Rainy Season
by wefallinlovewithstrangers
Summary: One-shot. When Ally decides she can't deal with Austin being gone so much anymore, there's nothing that Austin can really do, except hope that it's just a rainy season.


_The air is getting heavy, and we both know why  
So dance one more dance, and tell one more lie._

When I walked in, she was sitting on the couch, her hands in her lap. She didn't look up at me. Not even when I loudly proclaimed I was home.

I could almost hear my heart drop. I knew something was up.

She had been distant lately, and the sparkle in her eyes, that used to appear whenever she smiled at me, had long disappeared.

I had pretended not to notice. Probably because I didn't want it to be true.

"We need to talk." She didn't sound angry, or even upset. She sounded flat.

I didn't even ask her why. I just sat next to her, ready to take whatever was coming.

_Baby, tell me you're not leaving  
It's just the rainy season._

"I have been thinking a lot, lately," she started. She didn't immediately continue.

She also still hadn't looked at me directly. I stared at her, partly because I hoped she would look back, and partly because some weird power seemed to force me to.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore." Her voice broke halfway through. She fumbled with her fingers, trying not to cry.

"Do what anymore?" I asked, even though I knew exactly what she meant.

But I had to hear her say it.

"This. Us."

She finally looked up and I almost broke at the hurt in her eyes.

"Why?" I managed to bring out.

"You… Or you know, your job. I'm not happy, Austin. Or I am, I am happy." She was not making any sense.

She sighed. "You make me happy. But you're never here."

She'd gone back to looking at her hands again. Neither of us said anything, for a little while.

_We're taking on water,  
and drop after drop,  
we're destroying this house and each other. _

I had known, somewhere deep inside me, that she hadn't been happy lately. I'd forced myself to ignore it, but I'd never failed to notice.

How she didn't leap up with a happy squeal when she heard my key in the lock after I'd been gone for a couple of days.

How she had stopped laughing in our daily skype calls when I was gone for a couple of weeks.

How my stories about tour couldn't make her laugh anymore, because they only reminded her of what took me away from her.

"I think…" she continued, disrupting my thoughts, "I think I need to be on my own for a while."

She looked up at me again, sadness in her eyes. Then, she took my hands in hers.

"I can't miss you like this anymore. It's like there's this crack in my heart, and everytime you're with me, it slowly starts to heal, but then you leave again before it's completely healed and you just break it even further. I need to make a clean break."

Tears had started to form in her brown eyes, making me feel like my heart had just been thrown on the floor and scattered to pieces.

But I couldn't say I blamed her, or that I didn't understand.

"I know it'll hurt more, knowing you're not just a phone call away anymore. But I think… I think when it starts hurting less, this will be a good thing."

She squeezed my hand.

"Say something, please."

"Ally?"

"Yes?"

_Wish I could just say and words were enough,  
To keep you from being the one giving up._

"Is there anything I could say, or do, to make you stay?"

She shook her head, as I'd known she would. We had this discussion before, when we just got together two years ago. I'd told her I would give up anything for her, even music.

She'd told me that if I would do that, she wouldn't just leave me, she would break my neck and never talk to me again.

We had laughed about it, but I knew she'd been serious.

There was nothing I could do to make her stay.

"This isn't your fault," she said softly.

"It isn't yours either," I answered. I knew it was my fault. It wasn't something I could change, but it was still my fault.

"It's no one's fault. Sometimes, things just aren't meant to be."

She sounded so smart. And so sure, too. She'd made her decision.

_Like the sky letting go for no reason,  
in the rainy season._

We fell silent. Then she stood up, and I followed her.

"Austin?"

"Hmm?"

"Am I making the right decision?"

I was on the edge of crying, but I wouldn't let myself. Still, even now that it was over, she was still counting on me. To tell her it would be alright, to tell her she would be alright.

I knew crying would make this harder for her. And I knew she was already struggling.

But she was making the right decision.

"Yes."

If there was anything I wanted more than for her to stay, it was for her to be happy. And I knew that right now, those two things couldn't exist at the same time.

Funny, when you thought about it. Making her happy was all I'd ever tried to do. And now, leaving me was the only thing that would.

"If it's the right thing to do, why does it hurt so much?" Tears were streaming down her face, and I wanted nothing more than to reach forward and hug her, make the pain go away.

But I couldn't. If she wanted that break to heal completely, now was the time to rip off the bandage.

"I don't know, Ally, I really don't."

I looked her right in the eyes, forcing her to hear every word I was about to say, because I needed to know she knew.

"But if this will make you happy, in the long run, than you're doing the right thing. And if it turns out it wasn't the right thing, I will always be here. Okay? I will always be right here."

She nodded, and then she fell forward into my arms. My arms tightened around her like I was holding on for dear life.

And in a way, I was.

When she let go, way to early, she started walking towards the door.

But there was one thing left to say.

Before she could open the door, I talked, making her stop.

"I love you, Ally. I will always love you."

She turned around, and smiled. It was a sad smile, a final smile.

"I love you too Austin. More than you'll ever know."

And then she was gone.

I stood there, just stood there, not knowing what to do. The only one I'd ever truly loved just walked right out of my life, and there was nothing I could do about it.

_Say that this storm is just passing through,  
And baby, tell me that you're not leaving,  
that it's just the rainy season._

The only thing I could do, was hope. Hope that it wasn't forever. Hope that true love would find its way back to us.

Maybe she would find herself out there, and realize she didn't want to miss me like this. Or maybe my music career would fall apart and there would be no reason for me to not devote all of my time to her.

Maybe we would meet in a coffee shop years from now, and realize we'd never loved anyone as much as we loved each other.

Maybe this was just for a little while.

_Baby, let's keep make believing,_

_That it's just the rainy season._

* * *

**Based on the song Rainy Season by Hunter Hayes**


End file.
